The Legacy of Yves Saint Laurent to be Honored at New Marrakech Museum

Yves Saint Laurent is not the first to call Morocco muse, but the legacy of his interweaving the North African nation’s vibrant aesthetic into European fashion continues to this day, and will be permanently celebrated in the forthcoming museum, Musée Yves Saint Laurent Marrakech (mYSLm).

The museum will be adjacent to Marrakech’s infamous cobalt blue garden, Jardin Majorelle, which was purchased by Yves Saint Laurent and partner Pierre Bergé after learning that the oasis of exotic flora they had become so enamored with was destined to be demolished. Seeking to continue the garden’s previous owner’s vision, the pair nurtured the space back to its former beauty, transformed French artist Jacques Majorelle’s studio into a home for their expansive Berber collection, and took up residence. Marrakech and the surrounding countryside would inform Saint Laurent’s palette for collections to come.

A selection of Yves Saint Laurent’s vast collection of haute couture accessories and clothing, provided by Fondation Pierre Bergé, will be preserved in the new museum, as well as numerous sketches– many of which were done on the premises of Jardin Majorelle. The museum additionally features temporary exhibition spaces, an auditorium, bookshop and café with a breathtaking terrace. A research library containing volumes on fashion, Arabic and Andalusian history, literature and poetry, Berber culture, Yves Saint Laurent’s works and more is planned as well.

Not to be outdone by its contents, the museum– designed by French architectural firm Studio KO– will embody Yves Saint Laurent with a rich, textural design that’s at once at ease, blending with the terra cotta surroundings, and yet innovative in form. The brick facade creates an ornamental, cloth-like exterior evocative of the couturier, and the interior is said to be luxuriously hued.

The museum, located on Rue Yves St Laurent, will open October of this year in conjunction with the inauguration of the Museé Yves Saint Laurent in Paris.